DataU, Cambodia’s leading academy for advanced data skills training and workforce development, has joined forces with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to offer job skill training and employment-readiness opportunities for eligible Cambodian young women and men who have been affected economically by the COVID-19 pandemic. The DataU Academy program will allow some of the Kingdom’s most vulnerable youth to earn, while they learn. 

To mark this partnership USAID and DataU participated in a placement ceremony on September 1, 2021. USAID/Cambodia’s Acting Mission Director, Ms. Hanh Nguyen, met the current trainees and past graduates and discussed the career opportunities available to them through private sector partners. 

Thanks to the generosity of the American people, students seeking data analytics skills will be supported in their studies and connected to jobs with some of Cambodia’s leading information and communications technology employers. Eligible candidates are women and men under the age of 35 who meet education and economic requirements and whose education and/or livelihoods have been demonstrably affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. 

This partnership subsidises students’ study fees and employers’ placement fees and provides successful graduates with jobs in data-related fields. Through DataU’s flagship, USAID-supported Data Science program, DataU will train several cohorts of Cambodian Data Specialists and Data Engineers to support the development of Cambodia’s Industry 4.0 while creating job opportunities for those impacted by COVID-19. 

The six-month program trains participants in the latest analytics and job-ready skills. The curriculum has been developed in direct consultation with employers and the wider data community, ensuring that graduates have everything they need to launch their careers in the growing, rewarding field of data analytics.

With an estimated 11.4 million new data roles required globally over the next five years alone, an average salary for mid-level data scientists of $18,480 (across Cambodia) and global demand for data skills growing at 25% per year, this is an exciting skills-building opportunity for Cambodia as its economy and its people get back to work in the wake of the global pandemic. 

The USAID-supported Data Science program at DataU offers scholarships to reduce costs by 50-75%. Throughout the program students will also receive a monthly stipend, allowing them to support themselves while focusing fully on their studies. 

During the program, DataU will work closely to place trainees in jobs that fit their particular skills and career aspirations. DataU supports trainees long after they have graduated with additional training and new employment opportunities as their careers progress. 

As successful graduates take their new skills into the marketplace not only will their earning potentials increase, but so too will their contributions to the broader Cambodian economy. Their increased salaries will better support their families, future children, and younger generations, creating cross-generational impacts and lifestyle changes; while their skills will support new innovations, R&D, and value creation for the economy. With new innovations in workforce development comes increased GDP that spreads indirect benefits across the economy. 

DataU Academy and USAID look forward to empowering many more Cambodians to take their and their nation’s futures into their own hands. In today’s changing world, it pays to learn.

For more information, interested applicants should contact Ionela Spinu at DataU Academy (ioni@mekongbigdata.com, Phone: +85577464012)